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y separately published work icon Lead Us Not single work   novel  
Issue Details: First known date: 2024... 2024 Lead Us Not
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

'An emotionally charged novel of female friendship, for readers of Elena Ferrante and Diana Reid.

''When we spoke, I never knew what Olive would reveal to me. There were nights where she would lie next to me and pour herself out into the darkness, and others where it seemed she was hardly there at all.'

'Millie is in her final year at a Catholic girls' school, subdued by the conformity of her life and her parents' quiet pain. But when her schoolmate Olive moves in next door, it marks the beginning of an intoxicating friendship that changes everything. In all the ways Millie feels unsure and half-formed, Olive, an aspiring actor from a devoutly Catholic family, seems at ease with her place in the world.

'On the precipice of freedom, the two young women seize nights out and a school retreat as opportunities to further their own increasingly uncertain ends. Olive urges Millie on in her sexual encounters, but Millie is only becoming more consumed by Olive. When they're not staying up all night talking, they're watching each other from their bedroom windows - their selves are becoming blurred, their lives intimately mirrored.' 

That makes it all the more excruciating when, seemingly out of nowhere, Olive cuts off all contact. For all her efforts, Millie cannot understand what's changed between them. Has she missed something? Or was their friendship, for Olive, just another performance?

An emotionally charged novel of expectation, compulsion and desire, Lead Us Not charts the unseen currents of tension and control that shape a friendship. (Publication summary)

Notes

  • Author's note: For my sister

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

    • Melbourne, Victoria,: Penguin , 2024 .
      image of person or book cover 6380660375451168873.jpg
      This image has been sourced from Booktopia
      Extent: 304p.
      Note/s:
      • Published 5th March 2024
      ISBN: 9781761340680

Works about this Work

Book Review : Lead Us Not, Abbey Lay Erin Stewart , 2024 single work review
— Appears in: ArtsHub , March 2024;

— Review of Lead Us Not Abbey Lay , 2024 single work novel

'What happens when a friend ghosts you and you have no idea why?'

Friendship and Sexual Awakening in Lead Us Not Sonia Nair , 2024 single work review
— Appears in: Kill Your Darlings [Online] , April 2024;

— Review of Lead Us Not Abbey Lay , 2024 single work novel

'Debut Spotlight: Abbey Lay’s debut novel joins a rich canon of literature that explores the complexity of intimacy between young women. The exhilirating possibilities of adolescence buzz through this suburban-set Australian coming-of-age story.'  (Introduction)

Debut Spotlight : 5 Questions with Abbey Lay Abbey Lay , 2024 single work interview
— Appears in: Kill Your Darlings [Online] , April 2024;
Queer Love and Yearning Laura Pettenuzzo , 2024 single work review
— Appears in: Meanjin Online 2024;

— Review of Lead Us Not Abbey Lay , 2024 single work novel

'A few years ago, I had a crush on my best friend. I remember the panic, of beginning to suspect that these feelings might be something more than friendship, the desperate need to pretend that I wasn’t falling in love with someone who was then presenting as the same gender. I remember the tension and the yearning, the way that they became the centre of my universe and later I the centre of theirs.' (Introduction)

Abbey Lay Lead Us Not Madeleine Gray , 2024 single work review
— Appears in: The Saturday Paper , 2 April 2024;

— Review of Lead Us Not Abbey Lay , 2024 single work novel

'Reading Abbey Lay’s debut novel, I was beset by a case of déjà vu. The narrative follows protagonist Millie, a smart but insecure teenager who develops an obsession with her thespian classmate Olive. Their relationship is saturated in unease – there is always a sense that something important is not being said. At sleepovers they philosophise about sex, intimacy and self-knowledge, and at school they ignore each other. Eventually Olive ghosts Millie, and Millie cannot for the life of her work out why. She wraps herself in self-pity and refuses to see the obvious truth.' (Introduction)

Bold’, ‘extremely Fun’, ‘luminously Written’ : The Best Australian Books Out in March Imogen Dewey , Nigel Featherstone , Joseph Cummins , Steph Harmon , Lucy Clark , Sian Cain , Yvonne C Lam , Adele Dumont , Bridie Jabour , 2024 single work review
— Appears in: The Guardian Australia , 6 March 2024;

— Review of 36 Ways of Writing a Vietnamese Poem Nam Le , 2024 selected work poetry ; The Silver River Jim Moginie , 2024 single work autobiography ; One Another Gail Jones , 2024 single work novel ; Appreciation Liam Pieper , 2024 single work novel ; Loving My Lying, Dying, Cheating Husband Kerstin Pilz , 2024 single work autobiography ; Servo : Tales from the Graveyard Shift David Goodwin , 2024 single work autobiography ; The Cancer Finishing School : Lessons in Laughter, Love and Resilience Peter Goldsworthy , 2024 single work autobiography ; Thanks for Having Me Emma Darragh , 2024 single work novel ; Lead Us Not Abbey Lay , 2024 single work novel ; Always Will Be : Stories of Goori Sovereignty from the Futures of the Tweed Mykaela Saunders , 2024 selected work short story
Abbey Lay Lead Us Not Madeleine Gray , 2024 single work review
— Appears in: The Saturday Paper , 2 April 2024;

— Review of Lead Us Not Abbey Lay , 2024 single work novel

'Reading Abbey Lay’s debut novel, I was beset by a case of déjà vu. The narrative follows protagonist Millie, a smart but insecure teenager who develops an obsession with her thespian classmate Olive. Their relationship is saturated in unease – there is always a sense that something important is not being said. At sleepovers they philosophise about sex, intimacy and self-knowledge, and at school they ignore each other. Eventually Olive ghosts Millie, and Millie cannot for the life of her work out why. She wraps herself in self-pity and refuses to see the obvious truth.' (Introduction)

Queer Love and Yearning Laura Pettenuzzo , 2024 single work review
— Appears in: Meanjin Online 2024;

— Review of Lead Us Not Abbey Lay , 2024 single work novel

'A few years ago, I had a crush on my best friend. I remember the panic, of beginning to suspect that these feelings might be something more than friendship, the desperate need to pretend that I wasn’t falling in love with someone who was then presenting as the same gender. I remember the tension and the yearning, the way that they became the centre of my universe and later I the centre of theirs.' (Introduction)

Friendship and Sexual Awakening in Lead Us Not Sonia Nair , 2024 single work review
— Appears in: Kill Your Darlings [Online] , April 2024;

— Review of Lead Us Not Abbey Lay , 2024 single work novel

'Debut Spotlight: Abbey Lay’s debut novel joins a rich canon of literature that explores the complexity of intimacy between young women. The exhilirating possibilities of adolescence buzz through this suburban-set Australian coming-of-age story.'  (Introduction)

Book Review : Lead Us Not, Abbey Lay Erin Stewart , 2024 single work review
— Appears in: ArtsHub , March 2024;

— Review of Lead Us Not Abbey Lay , 2024 single work novel

'What happens when a friend ghosts you and you have no idea why?'

Debut Spotlight : 5 Questions with Abbey Lay Abbey Lay , 2024 single work interview
— Appears in: Kill Your Darlings [Online] , April 2024;
Last amended 11 Jun 2024 09:39:47
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